Sony Xperia 10 III is the first model in the new series of this manufacturer. The Sony Xperia 1 III also appeared on the market, but it has not yet reached our hands. The new 10 III model is primarily a compact smartphone and the first representative of the popular Xperia 10 series equipped with 5G mobile network technology supported by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 5G mobile platform 690. In addition, it received a number of entertainment features and a more efficient battery (25% more capacity than the Xperia 10 II smartphone). Plus a more attractive design, lighter weight, IP65/IP68 water and dust protection and Corning Gorilla® Glass 6, Full 6-inch FHD+ 21:9 widescreen OLED display for a cinematic experience with support for HDR content and an improved triple-lens camera for shooting low-light scenes and moving subjects. And how does the Xperia 10 III perform in reality? I invite you to the review.
Specifications
What's in the box?
The smartphone's housing is made of Corning® Gorilla® Glass 6 with slightly corners and a plastic frame in the color of the housing. Moreover, it is resistant to water (IPX5/IPX8) and dust (IP6X). Sony Xperia 10 III, like its predecessor SX 10 II, is very compact despite the 6-inch screen. All this thanks to its aspect ratio: 21:9. This is practically one of the few smaller smartphones currently available on the market. Of those that I had the opportunity to test, we also have Asus Zenfone 8 or Samsung galaxy S21. From other popular manufacturers, we also have an iPhone, which I was not able to test.
I will repeat myself here, as with the predecessor, such a size and elongated proportions make the smartphone fit perfectly in the hand. We can easily handle it with one hand (although sometimes you have to slightly move your hand up or down due to this elongated structure). At times it is also a bit slippery, but as soon as we put a case on it, the problem disappears. Unfortunately, the case will not be found in the package and we have to buy it ourselves, which is a pity, because the slightly protruding cameras and the glass housing also speak for it. In the blue version, the prints may be practically invisible, but in the black one, you will probably see every dirt.
On the housing of the Sony Xperia 10 III we find respectively:
Of course, the presence of a 3.5 mm mini Jack deserves a plus. However, we still haven't seen the stereo speakers. Despite this, the sound is very pleasant to the ear - clean, loud enough and quite spacious. The speaker is also placed quite unusually, because on the bottom edge between the screen and the frame. However, if we want an even better listening experience, we can switch to headphones via cable or BT. The more so that the smartphone is compatible with the DSSE Ultimate technology, which means that the sound in the headphones has a quality similar to high-resolution recordings. The applications also include the pre-installed Music application, and the Equalizer options. In short, sound playback is one of the advantages of this smartphone and stands out from the competition - despite the lack of stereo. Therefore, it is enough for everyday use - watching movies or listening to music, e.g. from YouTube.
Sony Xperia 10 III, like its predecessors, received a widescreen display with a 21:9 Full HD+ aspect ratio. In this case, it is a 6-inch screen (dimensions 154 × 68 × 8.3 mm). This proportion of the phone makes it easy to distinguish it from other competing models. But it is not everything. When we take the phone in hand and look at it from the front, we notice that the smartphone has a flat screen with symmetrically arranged frames: narrow frames on the sides and wider at the top and bottom. The front camera, speaker for calls and a small notification LED in the upper right corner are placed on the upper frame. Especially the diode will please not one user.
The 6-inch screen itself with FHD+ resolution (2520 x 1080) obviously looks very good, and the slightly rounded corners add to its charm. The colors are bright, vivid and high quality, and the image is clearly visible from almost any angle. In short, it looks very good. The backlight is even across the entire surface of the screen. Both video and photos on such a display look sharp and natural. The phone is also very good to use in the sun. It's just a pity that the screen refresh is still only 60 Hz. In many competing models, it is 90 Hz or 120 Hz.
I have already written about the cooperation of the application with the 21:9 aspect ratio screen in previous reviews. For example SX 10 II or Sony Xperia 10 Plus. Everything works fine here as well. When browsing content on a browser or using popular social media, we have a much larger working space at our disposal. What's more, the applications fit well - also in split screen mode. I didn't notice anything going off-screen or text being cut off anywhere. Of course, I'm talking here about apps that I use like. FB, Instagram, Chrome, etc. I do not rule out that there may be applications that will not fully interact with such a screen, but I personally have not been able to find them.
Sony creating such a screen ratio thought primarily about users who watch movies in cinema resolutions. Such videos can be found on Netflix or Youtube and they look great. In the case of other resolutions, we can also expand the video to full screen, but here we must remember that we may lose part of the displayed image.
Since we're at the screen, it's also worth mentioning the side menu, which will allow us to access our favorite applications faster, and what's more, it will make it easier to use the phone with one hand. A very useful feature is also the option to split the screen. We can enable 2 apps on 1 screen. Due to the fact that it is elongated, the divided area is very well suited for work. We can, for example, watch a YouTube video and browse websites.
The screen, of course, can be unlocked in several ways: swipe, pattern, pin code, password and fingerprint reader located on the side ON / OFF button. We will not find face unlock here. As for the fingerprint reader itself, it works very well and fast enough. I haven't had any major problems here.
The tested smartphone was equipped with a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 690 5G Mobile Platform processor (closer to the mid-range) and should easily handle popular applications or movies. The device is equipped with 6 GB of RAM. 128 GB is allocated for data, with the possibility of expanding it via a microSDXC card up to 1 TB. The AnTuTu benchmark has displayed over 349,000. points. And how does this device perform during typical use? Quite smooth, applications or pages load quickly. Sometimes there were only minor clipping or animation slowdowns. The smartphone also supports the 5G network (n1, n3, n7, n8, n28, n77, n78). The only drawback is that the competition here is not sleeping and we already have quite a few models that have received a more powerful processor and are cheaper.
Sony Xperia 10 III has been equipped with Android 11 (security from May 1, 2021) with a Sony overlay, in which we will also find original additions such as the aforementioned side menu, Xperia tips, STAMINA mode, Battery protection or Smart cleaning . In addition, several applications have been installed (as redundant for me, who wants to install themselves), e.g. Linkedin, Video, Amazon Shooping, Netflix, Booking.com, etc. Some of them cannot even be uninstalled, e.g. Linkedin.
Sony Xperia 10 III has been also equipped with good communication modules:
I didn't notice any major problems with connecting to Wi-Fi or 5G network (on the Orange card in Warsaw). The tested smartphone also has NFC and Bluetooth 5.1 support. The configuration is completed by a GPS receiver that works correctly and quickly, and the accuracy of location is at a decent level. The behavior of the receiver on the route allows you to comfortably use your smartphone as a navigation.
Sony has equipped the reviewed phone with a battery with a capacity of 4500 mAh (SX 10 II was only 3600 mAh). The good optimization of energy management deserves a plus, which means that we can work well over 6 hours on a constantly on screen, and with little use (a few conversations, a bit of browsing the web, a few photos) we can get up to 2 days or even 3 days. In addition, Sony provides a battery manager with STEMINA mode, which allows you to extend battery life by turning on one of the available power saving modes. In the most restrictive scenario, we have only a few basic functions at our disposal, among which music, album or camera also work.
While the working time on one charge does not differ from current standards, the battery charging time is probably a mistake. In the package we have a charger only 7.5 W, and the full charge takes almost 2.5 hours. Unless Sony followed the "Better than none" principle. We will not find inductive charging here either.
And finally, I leave the camera issue. Sony Xperia 10 |II is equipped with a triple camera on the back and one front camera. parameters:
The phone offers several functions:
What has improved over its predecessor is for sure:
Still, on cloudy days, the photos get a little soft, the detail and colors drop. The wide angle is also not the best. During the day and in nice weather, the photos please the eye both in terms of detail and natural colors. Sometimes only the photos are slightly dark or there are burns, e.g. in the sky. I had to throw away a lot of these photos. You can see a little inequality here in taking the same shots. We also have tele x2 here, but let's not get too close to bugs and other macro animals. However, supporters of these photographs should choose a different model. To sum up, you can see an improvement in the quality of the photos compared to the predecessor, but I still have the impression that somewhere still a bit far from the full potential that Sony has. Anyway, judge for yourself:
As befits a 21 screen phone: 9, it could not miss the possibility of recording movies in similar proportions. What's more, we also have 4K 30 fps resolution here. or FHD (60 / 30 fps) . Stabilization and autofocus work strangely at times. Image jumps strangely or is out of focus for a long time. Especially in close-ups.
Summary
Sony Xperia 10 III is a model that on the one hand is small, compact, elegant, well-made (glass), consistently has a 21:9 aspect ratio for several versions, perfectly reproduces sound despite no stereo, it still has a 3.5 mm mini Jack output and, following the trends, also supports the 5G network. On the other hand, the processor could be better, the camera is not perfect either (here, this manufacturer is particularly harsh because it has a lot of experience in this matter, and yet it is not reproduced in smartphones ☹), the screen refresh rate stopped at 60 Hz and the screen has wide bezels at the top and bottom. Here the competition does not sleep and at a price of about PLN 1,900 you can find models that will win in terms of performance and photography. Would I recommend this model? It depends. If you are looking for a small model (and there are few of them) and stable operation despite some shortcomings that you are able to accept, then absolutely. I would just look for some interesting promotion
To sum up:
The advantages of the phone are:
Something worth working on is:
TECHNOSenior
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